Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip

The Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip was a major naval battle of the American Civil War which was fought from 18 to 28 April 1862 to the north of New Orleans, Louisiana in Plaquemines Parish.

As the Union forces under Henry W. Halleck broke through the Confederate forts along the Mississippi River in Missouri and Tennessee, Admiral David Farragut and his US Navy squadron prepared to advance up the river from the south. Due to defeats in Tennessee and Kentucky, the Confederacy was forced to strip Louisiana of most of its men and equipment; the Union blockade of Louisiana was weak, and Louisiana's defense was therefore not a priority for the Confederacy. However, President Abraham Lincoln took advantage of the weakness of New Orleans by sending Farragut's West Gulf Blockading Squadron to take the heavy guns of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, the Confederacy's only defenses around New Orleans (70 miles below the city); Benjamin F. Butler would lead 18,000 Union troops to assist Farragut's fleet on land.

The expedition assembled at Ship Island in the Gulf of Mexico, and, on 14 April 1862, the Union fleet entered the Mississippi River. By 18 April, the Union fleet was in position, and it began the attack by firing its mortars at the Confederate forts. At night, the Confederates sent blazing rafts drifting into the Union fleet, and the first vessel was hit 42 times; Farragut's own flagship was set on fire. However, the Union fleet made it past the forts on the night of 24 April, losing one ship, with three retreating; at the same time, the Confederate gunboats were virtually obliterated. New Orleans surrendered the next day without a fight, and Farragut had the American flag raised over city hall. Even diarist Mary Chesnut realized that the Confederacy was lost because of the fall of New Orleans, as the Confederacy was now split in two. Butler would become the heavy-handed military governor of New Orleans, giving women the legal representation of prostitutes if they acted rude towards US Army perosnnel and pilfering the silverware of Southern homes; he was nicknamed "Beast Butler". However, New Orleans was kept orderly and healthy for the rest of the war, and it would remain in Union hands until the war's end.